What does a high school senior want to know prior to going out into the real world and the real job market? What skills will enable them to be competitive, confident and successful in this rat race of life? What graduation gift can I give someone that they could really use? Well, a dose of my “Ready for Success” training would be the perfect gift.
I recently had the privilege of going to participate in Timberland High School’s Senior Day. It consisted of all of the seniors rotating through a day of training. In the morning, I gave a presentation on life skills, including an overview of professional etiquette (dress, resumes, and applications) and making great first impressions. The students were very receptive and many wished they had received this valuable training in their junior year so that they would have had a year to work on their newly found skills under the watchful eye of a teacher or mentor.
In the afternoon, mock interviews were conducted and this proved to be the most valuable part of the day for students. They came dressed professionally and prepared for their interview. It was great to see the eagerness in the students and how much they wanted to learn about the skills needed to get a job. After the mock interview, each student received one-on-one feedback of how they did during their interview.
It was a full day and the students asked many questions about the Corps and what I do. Some of them said they would like a job like mine someday, which felt great. That’s part of what this day was about; helping through mentorship, training and interactions in hopes that one day they will in turn want to be a part of the Corps family.
Timberland High School is primarily a Title I school whose students who don’t have immediate plans for college but will enter the workforce immediately. These are the students that I want to steer towards success. Success in whatever path that they choose and giving positive options for their path. It was definitely rewarding to have been a part of such a fulfilling day. Since the response from the students was so positive, I will return again next year to do it all over again with a new group of students that hopefully I can impact in some small way. It turns out, the feeling I had after helping these students, even for such a small amount of time, was a far greater gift than I gave them and I am very grateful for that.
Timberland is paving the way for their senior graduating class to be successful once they leave the hallowed halls of the school and the Charleston District is proudly partnering to assist with that mission.